THE  PRESENT  CRISIS  AHD  THE  WILL  OP  GOD 


Rev.  Samuel  M.  Zwemer,  D.  L 


Z>Hl 


/• 


Broadway  Tabernacle,  Bew  York,  Oct.  3,  1915 


In  the  Gospel  according  to  Matthew,  the  6th  chapter  and 
the  10th  verse,  we  read  these  words:  "Thy  will  be  done  in  earth, 
as  it  is  in  heaven";  and  in  the  4th  chapter  of  St.  John's  Gospel 


we  read  these  words:  "Jesus  saith  unto  them,  .y  meat  is  to  do 

the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,  and  to  finish  his  work."  The  pres- 
ent crisis  and  the  will  of  God. 

That  there  is  a crisis  at  present  in  the  world  at  large,  and 
more  particularly  in  what  we  are  pleased  to  call  the  -wiohammedan 
world,  no  one  can  deny.  I believe  when  the  deeper  causes  of  this 
great  international  struggle  shall  be  historically  investigated 
in  the  years  that  are  to  follow,  there  Y«dll  not  be  the  least  doubt 
that  the  very  centre  and  fulcrum  that  stirred  up  this  great  inter- 
national strife  was  in  the  iioslem  world.  More  than  twelve  years 
ago,  a German  traveler,  Karl  Peters,  remarked  in  the  "Fortnightly 
Review,"  speaking  of  the  struggle  between  the  nations  for  the 
great  highway,  the  Bagdad  railway,  and  the  commerce  of  the  near 
East  and  the  far  East:  "If  German  policy  is  only  bold  enough, 

they  will  be  able  through  Pan-Islamism  to  fashion  the  dynamite 
that  shall  blow  up  British  and  French  rule  from  Morocco  to  Cal- 
cutta." Whether  he  was  a prophet  or  not  I will  not  say,  but  the 
fact  remains  that  this  dynamite  has  been  touched,  and  tonight  as 
we  sit  here  in  comfort  and  quiet,  singing  our  hymns  and  worship- 


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2 


ing  in  freedom,  the  Lord's  portion  of  the  Churoh  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  being  exterminated,  and  we  watch  with  horror  the  Armenian  atroo 
ities.  We  oan  almost  hear  the  thunder  of  the  guns  of  the  Allies 
against  the  other  armies,  as  inch  by  inch  they  are  forcing  their 
way  into  the  Dardanelles. 

We  are  all  of  us,  whatever  our  sympathies,  wondering  what  is 
to  be  the  future  of  the  Wear  East,  and  asking  ourselves,  is  this 
the  beginning  of  the  end  or  is  this  the  beginning  of  the  dawn? 

Are  those  uprisings,  like  the  Boxer  uprisings,  to  usher  in  a new 
day  for  all  the  Ido  hammed  an  Wear  East,  as  they  did  in  China,  or 
are  we  looking  upon  the  breaking  up  of  all  that  which  we  hold  near 
in  our  Christian  civilization,  and  will  the  *johammedan  nations 
point  the  finger  of  scorn  at  Christianity  after  the  war? 

The  present  orisis  and  the  will  of  God.  The  I-loslem  problem 
is  the  one  on  which  I desire  to  speak  tonight.  I will  not  touch 
on  the  present  orisis  in  Europe,  westward  or  eastward,  Poland 
or  Belgium  or  Russia  or  Germany.  I speak  to  students  on  the  one 
theme  which  I have  made  the  study  of  my  life,  and  which  I study 
not  only  with  qy  mind, but  with  my  heart. 

The  will  of  God.  Ho?;  can  wie  know  it  in  regard  to  those 
great  nations  which  we  call  Idohamned&n?  How  can  you  and  I study 
with  the  word  of  God  in  our  hands  the  will  of  God  in  promise 
save  as  we  go  back  to  those  great  fundamental  principles  that 
l^y  bare  to  us  the  will  of  Him  whom  we  call  our  Heavenly  Father? 

First  of  all,  we  knov;  the  will  of  God,  even  in  the  present 
crisis,  regarding  the  Johammedan  world,  from  His  clear  command. 
Lips  that  never  uttered  a cowardly  word  and  never  breathed  any- 
thing but  truth  have  told  us  again  and  again  in  the  Gospels, 


3 


"Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  whole 
creation";  and  if  any  of  us  through  cowardice  or  fear  or  negleot 
omits  the  Mohammedan  world  from  the  universal  problem  of  evange- 
lization we  are  not  doing  the  will  of  God.  We  are  to  regard 
Christ's  command  as  our  commission;  and  aside  from  all  other  argu- 
ments, a clear  sense  of  duty,  a sense  of  being  Christian  soldiers, 
should  lead  us  in  view  of  the  present  crisis  to  say,  Whatever  else 
God  wants  us  to  do.  He  wants  us  now  to  preach  to  Turkey  and 
Arabia  and  Persia  the  gospel  of  His  love  at  any  cost.  That  is 
what  the  soldiers  are  doing. 

"Theirs  not  to  make  reply, 

Theirs  not  to  reason  why. 

Theirs  but  to  do  and  die." 

But  there  is  a stronger  reason  by  which  we  may  know  the  will 
of  God  than  His  command.  I dare  say  that  very  few  of  your  mis- 
sionaries tonight  who  are  in  Turkey  went  out  there  driven  by  a com- 
mand. 77 e are  not  the  bond-servants  of  Jesus  Crist  in  that  sense. 
God  has  made  us  His  freemen.  father  and  brother.  Dr.  Herrick, 
never  stood  to  his  task  and  bent  his  back  to  the  harden  for  fifty 
years  in  the  Turkish  Empire  merely  from  the  motive  of  obedience 
to  the  will  of  God.  We  know  the  will  of  God  for  our  Mohammedan 
brothers  and  sisters  from  God's  own  character,  because  He  is  God; 
and  when  we  say  He  is  God,  He  is  the  only  true  God,  we  must  carry 
His  gospel  to  every  Mohammedan  home  and  heart.  He  is  a holy  God, 
and  therefore  He  must  hate  iniquity  and  violence  and  robbery  and 
sensuality  and  darkness  and  sin;  and  unless  you  and  I are  willing 
to  wipe  out  the  stain  of  human  sin  because  we  love  the  character 
of  the  just  God,  we  have  never  looked  into  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ, 
whose  character  is  white  as  the  driven  snow. 


4 


What  must  it  be  to  Jesus  tonight  to  think  of  two  hundred 
million  souls  that  at  their  best,  and  if  they  all  were  doing 
their  best,  would  be  trying  to  measure  up  to  the  measure  of  the 
stature  of  the  fullness  of  the  oamel  driver  of  Meooa?  God  is 
love,  and  God  must  love  the  Mohanmedan  world  more  than  you  and 
I love  it.  He  loves  them  for  their  sterling  faith,  sye,  it  is 
something  in  an  age  of  doubt  to  stand  face  to  face  with  Mohamne- 
dan  multitudes  who  to  the  very  death  will  shriek  and  mutter  their 
oreed,-  "La-ilaha-illa- ’ llahu:  Muhammadu-Rasula  ’allah.”  "There 
is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  God's  apostle."  Stronger  than 
the  thunder  of  their  cavalry  ?;as  the  echo  of  that  cry  as  they 
swept  the  old  Christianity  away  from  Eorth  .Africa.  It  was  the 
deep  conviction  of  a new  found  truth  that  gave  the  Mohammedans 
their  power.  It  is  not  a luke  warm  religion.  It  is  a religion 
that  has  always  had  the  backbond  of  conviction.  Your  Mohammedan 
man,  woman  or  child  is  not  afraid  to  pr^r  in  public.  In  the 
Philippine  Islands  were  Mohammedan  women  who  so  loved  their  re- 
ligion and  its  x:rivileges  that  they  flung  their  very  babes  against 
the  American  bayonets  before  the  Moros  surrendered  to  their  con- 
querors. Ask  Kitchener's  troops  at  Omdurman  and  Khartum  what 
sort  of  religious  fervor  there  was  in  the  hearts  of  those  poor 
deluded  followers  of  the  prophet.  If  God  tolls  us  by  the  mouth 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Crist  that  He  spews  out  those  that  are  luke- 
warm, God  must  love  even  the  non-christian  world  when  it  is  hot 
in  the  service  of  v.’hat  they  think  is  the  truth. 

And  I believe  God  loves  them  with  a great  love  because  Ee 
secs  them  struggling  towards  the  light.  The  will  of  God  for  the 
prodigal  son  was  not  the  will  of  the  elder  brother.  The  elder 


. 


..  -D: 


• 

. 

' 

. 

brother,  I suppose,  was  quite  satisfied  to  take  unto  himself 
all  there  was  left  of  the  father's  fortune  and  to  look  forward 
to  the  day  when  the  whole  estate  should  be  his.  But  the  father 
was  restless.  The  father  waited,  the  father  looked  out.  The 
attitude  of  the  Church  of  Je3us  Christ  for  thirteen  long  cen- 
turies toward  the  Mohammedan  world  has  been  that  of  the  elder 
brother.  The  Oriental  churches  and  the  Western  churches,  with 
few  exceptions,  have  not  longed  to  bring  him  home;  "But  when 
he  was  yet  a great  way  off  hi 3 father  saw  him  and  ran  out  to 
meet  him  and  fell  on  his  neck  and  kissed  him." 

I sometimes  think  that  even  if  Christians  cannot  go  to 
Mecca,  perhaps  the  angels  hover  there;  and  as  they  see  200,000 
people  year  after  year,  the  biggest  religious  convention  held 
in  the  name  of  the  one  true  God,  they  must  wonder;  when  they 
see  all  the  sacrifices  in  the  valley  of  Mina  and  up  against  the 
heights  of  Safa,  they  must  wonder  that  so  many  centuries  have 
gone  by,  when  John  the  faithful,  fearless  apostle  said,  "Be- 
hold the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world”; 
they  must  wonder  at  churches  in  Christendom  singing  in  their 
pews  at  ease, 

"Hot  all  the  blood  of  beasts 
On  Jewish  altars  slain 
Can  give  the  guilty  conscience  peace 
And  wash  away  the  stain," 

and  yet  not  a single  one  of  us  bold  enough  or  brave  enough  to 
burst  through  the  barriers  of  thirty-five  miles  of  desert  from 
Jiddah  on  the  Red  Sea  coast  to  enter  Mecca.  If  Mecca  were  an 
island  in  the  South  Seas,  long  ere  this  3ome  Chalmers,  Williams 
or  Baton  would  have  gone  there  and  broken  in  for  the  sake  of 


. 


. ft  *.  - . 


Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

The  character  of  God  gives  us  at  least  some  idea  of  what 
God’s  will  is  for  the  Mohammedan  world.  It  is  not  the  will 
of  God  that  manhood  and  womanhood  and  childhood  never  know 
higher  ideas  and  ideals  than  the  religion  of  Mohammed.  I saw 
a great  vision  tonight  as  we  were  singing  that  beautiful  verse 
from  the  German  put  into  the  English,  "ITow  thank  we  all  our 
God."  Mark  the  words, 

"VTio  from  our  mother's  arms 
Hath  blessed  us  on  our  way 
^ith  countless  gifts  of  love. 

And  still  is  ours  today." 

Of  such  is  not  the  kingdom  of  Mohammed.  Mohammed  was  a great 
warrior,  a great  poet,  a great  statesman,  a great  reformer; 
but  Mohammed’s  heaven  and  Mohaimned's  book  and  Mohammed's  heart 
was  an  unfitting  place  for  any  child.  The  curse  of  this  religion 
rests  on  every  Moslem  cradle.  Eugenics,  why,  you  dare  not 
spell  the  word  when  you  read  of  the  conditions  of  Mohammedan 
home  life.  I tell  you  tonight  it  is  not  the  will  of  our 
Heavenly  Father  that  these  little  ones  should  come  into  the 
world  with  naked  souls  as  well  as  naked  bodies  scarred  by  the 
heredity  of  thirteen  centuries  of  wickedness  and  licentiousness. 
It  is  not  the  will  of  God. 

And  then  we  know  the  will  of  God  from  His  promises.  The 
promises  in  God's  word  are  His  promissory  notes.  The  promises 
in  God’s  word  are  His  plan  to  perfect  His  temple;  and  just  as 
a faithful  workman  hewing  stone,  or  laying  the  timbers,  or 
rearing  the  edifice,  turns  back  again  and  again  to  the  plans 
of  the  architect,  so  you  and  I may  know  the  will  of  God  for 


7 


this  great,  weary,  sinful  world  by  reading  His  promises. 

Think  of  the  general  promise  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
glory  of  God  shall  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea; 
that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  - not  at  the  name  of  Mohammed  - every 
knee  shall  bow.  Think  of  the  definite  promises  for  Arabia  and 
Persia  and  Egypt  and  the  Hear  East  in  this  word  of  God.  Listen. 
"He  shall  rei^i  from  sea  to  sea  and  from  the  Euphrates  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth."  "All  the  flooks  of  Kedar  shall  be  gathered 
unto  him,  the  rams  of  Nebaioth  shall  minister  unto  him."  And 
so  I might  go  on  and  unfold  the  Old  and  Hew  Testament  promises 
and  prophecies,  and  show  you  that  if  God  has  a plan,  if  God 
has  ever  promised  anything.  He  has  promised  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Saviour  and  our  Lord  that  He  shall  reign  over  the  Hear  East, 
even  as  He  is  now  beginning  to  reign  in  the  Par  East  in  Korea 
and  Japan  and  India,  over  the  non-ohristian  faiths. 

The  will  of  God  is  also  known  by  the  present  crisis,  be- 
cause the  present  crisis  is  the  will  of  God.  Nothing  happens 
by  chance.  We  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  King  of  kings 
and  Lord  of  lords.  We  believe  that  though 

"Careless  seems  the  great  Avenger;  history* s 
pages  but  record 

One  death-grapple  in  the  darkness  * twixt 
old  systems  and  the  Word; 

Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold.  Wrong  forever 
on  the  throne, - 

Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future,  and, 
behind  the  dim  unknown, 

Standeth  God." 

Do  you  believe  that?  If  you  believe  that,  you  can  put  it  in 
the  words  of  the  old  Psalmist,-  That  He  makes  the  wrath  of  men 
to  praise  Him,  and  with  the  remainder  of  their  wrath  He  girds 
Himself  for  a new  battle. 


. 

L 


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- 


. 


• - r f 

• f * 

. 

, . . . 

• 

I tell  you  tonight  that  it  is  not  the  beginning  of  the  end, 
but  the  end  of  the  beginning  in  Turkey  and  Arabia  and  Persia 
and  the  Near  East, 

"The  morning  light  is  breaking. 

The  darkness  disappears, 

The  sons  of  earth  are  waking 
To  penitential  tears. 

Each  breeze  that  sweeps  the  ocean 
Brings  tidings  from  afar 
Of  nations  in  commotion 

Prepared  for  Zion*s  war." 

After  the  war  of  kings,  with  all  its  desolation  and  h rror 
and  injustice  and  lying  diplomacy,  will  como  tho  war  of  the 
King  of  righteousness  in  the  hearts  of  men  for  the  triumph 
of  Eis  grace,  not  with  tho  sword  that  slays,  but  with  that 
sword  proceeding  out  of  Eis  mouth  which  wounds  to  heal,  which 
lifts  all  nation..;,  which  eliminates  vice  and  wrong  and  error 
and  all  the  horrors  of  shame,  and  emancipates  society  and 
womanhood  and  childhood,  and  gives  manhood  higher  ideals.  And 
that  is  the  present  crisis. 

The  present  crisis  in  the  Moslem  world  is  threefold.  It 
is  political,  it  is  social,  and,  finally,  it  is  spiritual;  and 
if  w$  pause  for  a moment  before  these  three  facts  we  will  see 
the  will  of  God  3tand  out  clearly  even  to  those  who  cannot 
read  Eis  promises,  who  have  never  been  quiet  long  enough  to 
hear  His  command,  and  who  never  have  partaken  of  Eis  character. 

I mean  exactly  what  I say.  To  those  that  are  not  Christians 
here  tonight,  to  those  who  reject  the  Word  of  God,  to  thifrse 
who  deny  the  deity  of  Jesu3  Christ,  my  Lord  and  my  Saviour, 
you  can  still  make  out  a clear  case  and  a clear  call  for  the 
needs  of  tho  Hoslera  world  from  the  present  crisis  itself,- 


♦ 

< 


9 


from  the  political  oonditions,  and  the  social  needs  and  the 
spiritual  hunger  of  these  hearts. 

What  is  the  ix>litical  crisis?  In  the  first  place,  the 
death  of  Pan-Islamism.  VTiat  some  people  feared  and  many 
droaded  is  dead.  Uever  again  will  any  nation  or  any  group  of 
men  be  able  to  frighten  governments  and  communities  by  saying 
that  the  whole  Mohammedan  world  will  rise  and  butcher  Christ- 
ians. The  opportunity  was  unique.  The  plans  were  all  laid, 
but  the  dynamite  did  not  go  off.  Thanks  be  unto  God  that,  ex- 
cept in  Turkey  and  northern  Persia, the  Mohammedan  worldremained 
loyal, -to  France  in  Algiers,  to  Italy  in  Tripoli,  loyal  al- 
though they  were  suffering  serious  grievances  and  injustices; 
loyal  in  Egypt  in  spite  of  their  program  of  a free  Egypt  for 
the  young  Egyptian;  and, most  marvelous  of  all,  67,000,000 
Mohnmmerlans  in  India  loyal  to  King  George  the  Smperor,  67,000,000 
people, stirred  to  their  deepest  feelings  by  the  cannon  thunder 
away  at  the  city  of  the  Caliphate,  lo-yal  to  Great  Britain,  al- 
though 9 6:/o  of  them  were  illiterate;  loyal  in  Java  and  Sumatra, 
35,000,000  Mohammedans.  Surely  you  and  I need  no  longer  talk 

n 

of  Pan-Islamism  and  a world  wide  jahad,  when  the  holy  war  made 
in  Germany  turned  out  after  all  to  be  a fiasco,  save,  alas,  in 
the  Turkish  Empire  and  among  the  Armenians.  May  God  pity  them 
tonight • 

In  the  second  place,  the  present  crisis  puts  us  face  to 
face  with  a new  national  responsibility.  I wonder  how  many  of 
you  here  tonight  know  that  the  biggest  home  missionary  problem 
we  have  is  Mohammedanism.  Point  out  if  you  can  on  the  map  of 
our  American  states  and  territories  and  possessions  a single 


- 


' 


. 

.•  » 


. 


10 


unevangeliz^d  unit  ns  big,  as  baffling,  as  needy,  as  neglected, 
as  the  Mohammedans  in  the  Moro  group  of  the  Sulu  Islands  of  the 
Philippines 276,000  untouched,  untaught,  neglected,  degraded 
Mohammedan  savages*  If  anyone  again  brings  up  the  matter  of 
home  missions  over  against  foreign  missions,  you  ask  them  where 
under  the  American  flag  slavory  and  polygamy  are  allowed  save 
in  the  Philippine  Islands. 

A new  national  responsibility  for  Great  Britain.  Ninety 
millions  before  the  war,  possibly  over  a hundred  million  Mo- 
hammedans after  the  war,  look  to  Great  Britain  as  their  governing 
power;  and  none  of  us  here  tonight,  whatever  our  religious  con- 
victions, whatever  our  ideas  of  socialism  or  government,  would 
deny  that  a Christian  government  like  Great  Britain,  on  en- 
lightened government,  is  responsible  before  God  and  before 
humanity  for  the  economic  development  of  the  lands  where  these 
Moslems  live,  for  th  ir  intellectual  instruction,  for  their 
moral  and  spiritual  welfare,-  ninety-five  million  Mohammedans, 
five  millions  more  than  the  total  number  of  Christians, under 
the  Union  Jack.  Thirty-five  millions  under  Holland,  twenty 
millions  belonging  to  Prance,  twenty  million  Mohammedans  who 
call  themselves  Russian  subjects.  And  so  I might  go  on  and  show 
Italy’s  responsibilities,  and  the  responsibility  of  Germany, 
and  the  responsibility  of  all  the  powers  of  Europe  to  grapple 
with  this  problem  before  and  after  the  war  is  ended. 

And  the  present  crisis  puts  us  face  to  face,  especially  we 
students,  to  open  doors.  TTTxatevsr  the  war  may  have  done  in 
Europe  of  devastation  and  destruction  and  the  utter  wiping  out 
of  resources  and  life,  the  war  has  already  nailed  open  doors 


, 

. 


, 


11 


that  have  b^en  shut  for  centuries.  The  battle  of  Busrah  and 

7 

the  battle  of  Nasariyeh,  of  which  the  papers  said  very  lit- 
tle, were  two  great  struggles  which  have  finally  and  forever 
driven’ the  Turk3  out  of  all  Hast  Arabia  and  Mesopotamia;  and 
when  you  hear  tomorrow  or  the  next  day  of  the  fall  of  Bagdad, 
you  may  thank  God  with  all  the  missionaries  that  now  at  last 
freedom  to  confess  Christ,  freedom  to  develop  natural  resour- 
ces, freedom  and  education  and  liberty,  have  come  to  the  old 
land  of  Mesopotamia. 

Not  only  is  East  Arabia  open,  but  after  this  war,  with 

the  breaking  up  of  the  Turkish  ISnpiro,  whoever  may  inherit  it, 

? 

the  sacred  cities  may  become  as  accessible  as  Luxor  or  3enares 
are  today.  And  then  think  of  Afghanistan  and  Persia.  Have 
you  read  Shuster’s  remarkable  book  on  the  strangling  of 
Persia?  You  can  put  in  the  appendix  to  that  volume  now  and 
see  how  God's  hand  was  in  that  great  piece  of  international 
brigandage,  and  after  all,  Russia  and  Great  Britain  by  strang- 
ling Persia  have  only  awakened  her  to  a new  life.  Ask  all 
your  missionaries  of  the  3ritish  churches  or  the  American 
churches,  and  they  will  tell  you  they  stand  face  to  face  in 
Persia  with  a new  opportunity  in  every  way  for  the  good  of  the 
people  in  Persia.  And  since  Russia  and  England  are  no  longer 
rivals  in  Central  Asia,  I believe  it  is  clearly  on  the  program 
of  God  that  the  last  great  closed  land,  Afghanistan,  will  open 
its  gates,  as  will  Central  Asia.  Bokhara  and  Samarkand,  Khiva 
and  Chinese  and  Russian  Turkestan,  and  that  dark  heart  Asia, 
will  knov7  something  of  the  living  heart  of  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord. 


12 


"Uplifted  axe  the  gates  of  brass. 

The  bars  of  iron  yield 
To  let  the  King  of  Glory  pass. 

The  oro33  is  in  the  field.” 

And  does  that  not  tell  us  what  the  will  of  God  is?  Can  you 
and  I look  at  the  map  of  Asia  and  not  see  the  unoccupied  fields 
face  to  faoe  with  our  unoccupied  livos? 

We  know  the  will  of  God  also  from  the  social  crisis.  After 
all,  the  political  call  is  only  a call  of  opportunity,  and  the 
last  word  in  missions  is  not  opportunity.  I believo  tho  challenge 
of  a closed  door  is  over  so  more  urgent  and  more  irresistible  than 
tho  challenge  of  the  open  door.  The  open  door  beckons,  but  the 
closed  door  challenges.  ”3 oho Id,  I stand  at  tho  closed  door 
and  knock.”  When  wo  ]nock  at  the  closed  Aooie  in  tho  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  we  have  His  own  promise  that  those  doors  shall 
opon.  I say  the  last  word  is  not  opportunity . Tho  last  word 
in  missions  is  need.  The  social  noed,  the  ethical  need,  tho 
utter  degradation  of  Moslem  life  apart  from  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ,  that  i3  the  call  of  God  to  every  one  of  us.  r^e  condi- 
tion of  Moslem  womanhood.  We  need  no  longer  believe  the  words 
of  our  missionaries,  if  we  hesitate.  If  we  believe  that  those 
who  have  spent  their  lives,  who  have  spilled  their  tears  and 
their  blood  to  rescue  Moslem  womanhood,  exaggerate  the  story, 
then  lot  us  turn  to  tho  French  novelist,  Pierro  loti,  and  read 
his  book  "Disenchantment,"  or  open  the  pages  of  the  book  of 
? Bey,  a Moslem  judge,  or  if  you  will,  that 

brilliant  book  of  essays  by  an  educated  Mohammedan  in  India, 
entitled  "Essays  Indian  and  Islanic  and  in  all  those  three 
books  the  picture  of  Mohammedan  homo  life  is  painted  far  blacker 
and  with  greater  despair  than  any  missionary's  pen  ever  painted 


- 


< 


. 


- 

irif  <H’  • *'  • r*  •: 't 


13 


it.  The  Mohammedan  world  is  si ok  unto  death.  The  Mohammedan 
world  is  socially  rotten  to  the  core.  The  Mohammedan  world 
has  no  remedy  for  its  social  evil  save  the  gospel  of  Jesus 

Christ  our  Lord. 

I have  sometimes  been  accused  by  superficial  thinkers  of 
painting  the  picture  of  Mohammedanism  too  dark,  and  because  I 
knew  I was  speaking  tonight  to  an  audience  of  students,  I 
brought  with  me  first  sources.  I quote  £*om  a book  of  Mohammed- 
an law,  the  last  page.  This  book  of  Mohammedan  law  has  been 
current  for  nearly  eight  hundred  years  among  Mohammedans.  It 
is  the  chief  manual  of  jurisprudence.  It  has  been  translated 
into  Turkish,  into  French,  and  last  year  into  English  for  the 
guidance  of  British  diplomats  and  British  statesmen.  I have 
torn  out  the  last  page  of  that  book.  The  whole  book  is  a vivid 
illustration  of  what  Ion  Zeith  Falconer,  who  was  not  anything 
if  not  a University  man,  described  as  the  "horrors  of  Islam," 
when  he  threw  down  the  challenge  in  Edinburgh  University  and 
said,  "The  burden  of  proof  rests  upon  you,  when  vast  regions 
of  thc^world  are  suffering  the  horrors  of  Ilohamme danism,  to 
prove  that  the  place  where  God  has  put  you  was  meant  by  Him  to 
keep  you  out  of  the  foreign  field."  I trust  you  will  forgive 
me  if  I read  this  last  page  of  the  Mohammedan  law  book;  that 
is,  portions  of  it.  I could  not  read  the  whole  page,  even 
although  it  closes  with  a prayer  to  God.  Here  is  the  heading, 
"Book  71  of  Moslem  Law."  The  title  of  the  book  is 
Code  of  Law." 

"FRHEPGM  OH  ACCOUNT  OF  MATERNITY. 

When  a master  has  cohabited  with  one  of  his  female  slaves. 


. 


, 


. 


. 

. 


and  she  gives  birth  to  a child,  she  becomes  free  upon  her  master* s 
death,  whether  the  ohild  to  which  she  gives  birth  is  living  or 

dead*  • • • • 

Freedom  on  account  of  maternity,  however,  leaves  intact 
the  master* s right  to  cohabit  with  the  3lave  during  his  life- 
time by  reason  of  his  ownership;  he  may  even  omploy  her  in  his 
service,  or  hire  out  her  services  to  another;  3he  may  be  seized 
for  the  indemnity  if  she  commits  a crime;  and  the  master  may 
even  give  her  in  marriage  without  her  consent.  Her  sale,  pledg- 
ing, or  gift  are  the  only  things  forbidden  him*  The  master  also 
remains  the  owner  of  any  child  born  of  the  slave,  either  in 
consequence  of  marriage  with  another  person,  or  of  the  crime 
of  fornication.  Children  that  the  woman  in  question  gave  birth 
to  before  her  enfranchisement  on  account  of  maternity  remain 
slaves  and  do  not  become  free  upon  the  master* s death*  Conse- 
quently the  master  may  sell  these  children  as  he  pleases. 

Finally,  upon  the  master’s  death,  the  consequences  of  enfran- 

be 

chisement  on  account  of  maternity  must ^defrayed  out  of  the  whole 
estate,  and  not  out  of  the  third  of  intoich  he  can  dispose* 

Glory  to  God,  the  lord  of  all  created  things*  God  grant 
His  grace  to  our  master  Muhammad*  God  grant  him  His  grace  and 
His  blessing;  to  him  and  his  family  and  his  com  anions*  May 
He  grant  them  all  His  grace  and  His  blessing.  God  sufficeth 
for  us.  He  is  the  supreme  mediator.  There  is  no  force  nor  power 
but  in  God  Most  High.” 

And  I submit  that  there  is  no  force  nor  power  in  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  if  you  and  I say  that  that  is  a code 
of  law  for  200,000,000  people  whom  we  oall  our  brothers  and  our 


T 


i ’ •'  • 


V . • ■ 


* . 


. v.  t 

- - . 


sistera.  If  there  wore  no  Bible,  if  there  were  no  great  com- 
mission, you  oould  read  any  book  of  Mohammedan  law,  or  visit 
any  Uohamnedan  home,  or  stand  face  to  face  with  these  Moslem 
sisters  and  children,  and  you  could  "stir  a fever  in  the  blood 
of  age,  and  make  the  infant  sinews  strong  as  steol"  for  a cry 
like  that  of  Peter  the  Hermit  to  rescue  these  lives  from  infamy 
and  degradation. 

And  we  know  the  will  of  God  in  regard  to  Mohammedan  man- 
hood, Here  you  are,  young  men,  ray  brothers.  Every  on*  of  us 
has  red  blood  in  our  veins,  and  battles  with  our  temptations. 
But  you  and  I,  at  Harvard  or  Yale  or  Columbia,  or  in  this  great 
city,  when  we  are  assailed  by  the  tempter,  what  have  we  got? 

We  have  got  the  Word  of  God  and  the  voice  of  Jesus  Christ,  His 
character  pure  as  crystal;  and  we  have  the  heaven  where  our 
fathers  and  mothers  and  loved  ones  are,  where  even  the  streets 
are  pure  gold.  What  has  your  Mohammedan  brother  got?  He  lias 
got  the  Koran  - may  God  have  mercy  on  him*.  He  turns  to  the 
life  of  Mohammed;  and  may  the  angels  pity  him*.  And  he  looks 

7 

up  to  Mohammed1 s paradise,  and  L.  Stanley  Poole  in  his  book, 
"Studies  in  a Mosque,"  characterizes  Mohammed’s  paradise  as  an 
eternal  brothel  prepared  for  true  believers.  How  can  you  and  I 
sit  in  our  pews  and  sing 

"Thou,  0 Christ,  art  all  I want. 

Hangs  my  helpless  soul  on  Thee."? 

And  we  mean  it.  Environment  never  saved  you  nor  me.  Heredity 
never  saved  you  nor  me.  We  need  Christ.  And  then  we  allow 
these  brother  men,  without  our  environment,  without  all  these 
artificial  props  that  keep  us  clean,  and  without  the  blood  of 
ancestors  holy  coursing  in  their  veins,  to  struggle  with  these 


. ; ■*'*  v 


. 


. • • 


• • 


* 


. 


temptations.  I care  not  to  raise  the  question  here  tonight 
whether  the  Mohammedan  young  man  needs  Jesus  Christ  to  die 
easily  or  to  inherit  heaven,  I tell  you,  men,  our  "brother  men 
need  Jesus  Christ  to  live.  "ithout  Him  their  lives  are  death. 

And  wo  know  the  will  of  God  not  only  with  regard  to  the 
social  side  of  this  crisis,  "but  the  spiritual  crisis.  It  is 
all  nonsense  for  us  to  say  that  missionaries  are  upsetting  the 
ancient  religions.  They  do  not  need  to  be  upset.  They  have 
been  upset  by  the  impact  of  our  civilization.  Automatically 
the  terrific  impact  of  our  civilization  had  disintegrated 
Hinduism,  Buddhism,  Confucianism,  Hohamme danism.  You  cannot 
rationalize  the  Koran.  You  might  as  well  rationalize  Mother 
Goose's  melodies.  You  cannot  introduce  science  and  philosophy 
and  education  in  Bagdad  and  Bushrah  and  Beirut  and  Cairo  and 
Constantinople  and  expect  these  religions  to  remain  intact. 

Ask  Hr.  Herrick  hov  the  work  of  education  has  disintegrated  the 
whole  fabric  of  Mohammedanism  in  Turkey,  until  all  the  thinking 
men  and  women  no  longer  believe  the  traditions,  and  are  be- 
ginning to  doubt  the  Koran.  The  young  Turks  are  practically 
without  religion.  The  young  Egyptian  party  is  adrift.  I shall 
never  forget  - and  Hr.  Jefferson  will  appreciate  this  illustra- 
tion - I shall  never  forget  hov  after  preaching  a sermon  in  the 
church  in  Cairo  to  the  English  speaking  Mohammedan  and  Coptic 
students  on  this  theme,  "Are  the  gospels  trustworthy  ?"  I re- 
ceived two  letters,  one  from  a Coptic  law  student,  and  one  from 
a Mohammedan  law  student,  both  with  the  same  request,  the  same 
evening.  They  said:  "Ee  enjoyed  your  sermon  on  the  subject  of 

the  trustworthiness  of  the  gospels,  but  our  difficulties  are 


more  fundamental.”  Mark  the  words.  And  this  Mohammedan  said, 
"Will  you  not  preach  some  Sunday  evening  on  the  question.  Is 
there  a God?"  And  his  own  father  was  oailing  out  five  times  a 
day,  "There  is  no  God  but  Sod,"  and  his  son  said,  "Is  there  a 
God?"  The  spiritual  ory  of  these  lands  is  like  the  cry  of  those 
ho  have  lost  anchorage,  who  are  adrift;  and  unless  we  give  them 
the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  they  are  literally  without  Christ, 
without  hope,  without  God  in  the  world.  The  spiritual  cry  of 
the  Moslem  world  is  real.  The  spiritual  cry  of  the  Moslem  world 
should  here  and  now  find  response  among  those  who  have  found 
Jesus  Christ  a real  saviour*. 

And,  in  conclusion,  how  can  you  and  I know  the  will  of  God 
for  our  lives  faoo  to  faoe  with  this  issue?  There  is  a crisis. 
And  the  present  political  crisis  does  not  make  its  appeal  in 
vain.  80$  of  the  students  in  Cambridge  and  Oxford  have  gone  to 
the  front.  Over  80$  of  the  students  and  professors  of  Germany, - 
of  Leipsio  and  Tubingen  and  alL the  great  universities,  are  in 

> 

the  trenches.  The  political  crisis  for  national  aggrandizement , 
for  national  honor,  or  any  other  great  political  issue,  has 
always  found  response.  Shall  we  call  ourselves  tie  soldiers  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  wear  the  white  feather  when  He  calls  us  to  bat- 
tle? 

"Am  I a soldier  of  the  cross, 

A follower  of  the  Lamb; 

And  shall  I fear  to  own  His  cause. 

Or  blush  to  speak  His  name?" 

And  the  appeal  comes  to  us  with  the  sweet  reasonableness  of 
the  whole  proposition.  Wo  stand  before  the  problem  of  knowing 
the  will  of  God  for  our  individual  lives.  It  is  the  only  laLent 
you  and  I have.  The  average  college  and  university  student  has 


18 


no  millions  to  invest,  has  no  property  to  sell,  as  did  Barnabas 
on  Cyprus,  and  became  a great  missionary  leader.  The  only  thing 
you  and  I have  is  that  which  God  has  given  us,-  an  education. 

We  are  a privileged  class,  the  only  aristooracy  that  America 
possesses;  and  with  noblesse  oblige,  every  one  of  us  is  in  duty 
bound  to  hold  that  talent  clearly  before  him  and  ask  our  Lord 
and  our  Master  where  to  invest  it.  You  are  going  to  be  a phy- 
sician and  exercise  the  ministry  of  healing.  I ask  you  on  the 
simple  ground  of  ordinary  common  sense,  are  you  going  to  hang 
out  your  shingle  on  some  street  in  a great  city  where  there 
are  ten  other  signs,  "Physician  and  Surgeon,  Physician  and 
Surgeon",  or  are  you  going  to  be  on  the  Avenue  where  there  is 
a drug  store  at  every  corner  - and  Christian  Science  to  fall 
back  on  - or  are  you  going  out  to  the  great  unoccupied  fields,  - 
Aghanistan,  Turkestan,  the  Great  Sudan,  the  heart  of  Arabia,  - 
a peninsula  with  a million  square  miles  of  area,  and  only  this 
afternoon  I made  a plea  in  one  of  our  churches  for  the  first 
hospital  to  be  established  there.  If  they  furnish  the  hospital, 
won’t  you  furnish  the  men  and  women  to  heal  the  bullet  wounds 
and  all  the  diseases  of  the  great  population  of  Arabia? 

You  are  going  to  teach,  are  you?  Is  there  a place  where 
teachers  are  called  for  more  than  £feypt,  for  example,  where 
three  women  out  of  a thousand  can  read  and  write  their  own 
names,  and  all  the  others  have  their  souls,  like  their  dwellings, 
without  windows.  You  are  going  to  teach.  How  about  darkest 
Ao^occo  and  new  Tripoli  and  the  open  doors  in  Algiers  and  the 

Turkish  Smpire,  and  the  higher  education  demanded  in  Persia, 
and  the  new  university,  the  Christian  University,  at  Cairo? 


19 


Have  you  ambitions  to  teach  in  a university?  Then  oozae  and  Join 
our  forces  and  regenerate  old  E&ypt,  and  in  the  land  of  the 
Pharaohs  teaoh  these  people  that  God  whom  Moses  loved,  and  that 
Saviour  who  onoe  found  refuge  by  the  Kile. 

Or  you  are  going  to  preach.  Yon  are  going  to  win  men.  You 
are  going  to  fish  for  souls.  Are  you  going  to  angle  by  the  little 
stream  where  all  sorts  of  bait  and  all  sorts  of  fishermen  oongre- 
gate,  and  where  there  is  one  preacher  to  every  seven  hundred  souls; 
or  will  you  launch  out  into  the  deep,  throw  your  nets  on  the  other 
side#  ana.  I tell  you  in  God's  name  that  even  in  Turkey  the  days 
are  ooming  when  we  shall  oall  to  our  companions  in  the  other 
ship  because  we  will  not  be  able  to  pull  in  the  net.  I believe 
as  surely  as  the  law  of  conservation  of  forces  in  mechanics,  so 
surely  is  the  law  of  the  conservation  of  forces  in  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

I cannot  help  speaking  a single  word  for  Turkey.  Do  you 
remember  that  mission  field?  The  tears,  the  blood  of  martyrs, 
the  prayers  of  the  veteran  saints,  the  long  record  of  faithful 
service,  their  work  of  faith,  and  labor  of  love,  and  patience 
of  hope,-  was  it  all  flung  away,  or  shall  we  rest  our  hands  on 
God’s  promise  and  say,  "As  the  rain  descendeth,  and  the  sun 
from  heaven,  and  watereth  the  earth  and  returneth  not  without 
fruitage,  30  shall  my  word  be  in  Turkey."  It  is  ny  conviction 
that  after  the  war  there  will  be  mass  movements  toward  Christ, 
not  only  in  Turkey  but  in  Egypt,  among  the  poorer  Mohammedans, 
where  the  mass  movement  always  begins,  even  as  in  India. 

The  Mohanmedans  are  beginning  to  lose  faith  in  their  re- 
ligion. I have  preached  Jesus  Christ  in  our  university,  a place 
where  formerly  no  missionary  was  allowed  to  enter.  I have  been 


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20 


to  Jiddah,  the  seaport  of  Meooa,  and  a I.'o haiome dan  said  to  me, 

"Do  you  vdsh  to  go  to  Hecoa?"  I said,  "I  do  •"  I said,  "Can  I 
go  as  a Christian?"  He  said,  "Why  not?  You  pay  me  the  money, 
and  I will  take  you."  "Will  you  bring  me  back?"  He  said,  "I 
will."  When  Ltohanmedans  are  beginning  to  bargain  the  very  gates 
of  the  holy  city  and  are  willing  to  surrender  the  keys  to  the 
parapet  of  the  -loslem  world  for  backsheesh,  we  can  no  longer 
say  the  doors  are  closed. 

The  responsibility  tonight  rests  upon  you.  And  Jesus  said, 
"Ny  meat  - wy  delight  - is  to  do  the  will  of  God."  What  is  the 
will  of  God  for  you  tonight?  I beseech  you  therefore,  breth- 
ren, by  the  mercies  of  God,  which  you  enjoy  and  the  others  have 
never  tasted,  that  you  present  your  bodies  now,  here,  a living 
sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God,  on  the  altar  of  foreign 
missions,  that  ye  may  know  - that  you  may  know,  and  you,  and 
you,  and  you  - what  is  that  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect 
will  of  God. 

I have  never  met  a missionary  who  regretted  the  choice  of 
his  profession.  I have  met  physicians  who  wished  that  they  had 
been  farmers,  and  farmers  who  longed  to  be  preachers,  and  men 
in  every  profession  who  would  barter  their  talent  for  a change 
of  office;  but  I have  never  met  a missionary  who  desired  to 
leave  his  post.  ill  you  join  that  great  company  of  martyrs 
and  prophets  and  apostles  who  find  life  worth  living?  I be- 
seech of  you  to  know  the  will  of  God,  by  surrender,  by  sobrie- 
ty of  judgment,  not  thinking  of  yourselves  mcr  e highly  than  you 
ought  to  think,  and  by  an  absolute  turning  of  your  baok  on  the 
precepts  and  policies  of  the  worldling;  and  then  we  shall  know 
what  is  that  good  will  of  God,  what  is  the  acceptable  will  of 


21 


God  that  is  worth,  what  is  the  perfect  will  of  God  at  the  end. 

And  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Neither  do  men  light  a candle 

and  put  it  under  a bushel  or  under  a bod,  but  on  a candlestick.” 

You  have  lit  your  candle  at  the  torch  of  science  and  at  the 

light  of  God.  Will  you  put  it  under  a bushel  or  under  a bed? 

What  is  a boishel?  A bushel  is  the  symbol  of  gain.  From 

Shanghai  to  Chicago  the  bushel  spells  gain.  What  is  the  bed? 

The  bed  is  a symbol  of  ease,  from  Patagonia  to  Alaska.  The 

bed  says.  Sleep,  seek  your  ease,  take  it  easy.  What  is  the 

candlestick?  A symbol  of  service.  "And  they  came  unto  him 

and  said.  Master,  we  would."  And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  "Are 

ye  able  to  drink  the  cup  and  be  baptized  with  the  baptism? 

And  they  said.  We  are." 

"Then  welcome  each  rebuff 
That  turns  earth’s  smoothness  rough, 

Bach  sting  that  bids  nor  sit  nor  stand,  but  go1. 

3e  our  joys  three -parts  pain*. 

Strive,  and  hold  cheap  the  strain; 

. . . . dare,  never  grudge  the  throe." 

Will  you  go?  Will  you  go  tonight?  Will  the  present  crisis 

at  least  awaken  some  of  you  to  know  the  will  of  God? 

Let  us  pray. 


